Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) and Sempra Energy (SRE) are nearing a deal to sell their joint venture’s North American electricity retail business to Hong Kong-based commodities trading company Noble Group (N21.SG), people familiar with the situation said Friday.

The sale price is in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, the people told Dow Jones Newswires.

On Thursday, US-based Sempra Energy’s chief financial officer said a deal should be announced shortly, without providing any details.

The companies will likely announce a buyer for the joint venture’s remaining North American natural gas and electricity commodity trading business in the next few weeks. Talks with interested parties are ongoing, people familiar with the situation said.

The venture, RBS Sempra Commodities, sold its European and Asian parts to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) earlier this year for $1.7 billion ($2.3 billion).

RBS, 83%-government owned, is selling its 51% stake in the joint venture under orders from European regulators, after the bank received billions in government aid.